TACOMA — Being a two-time state placer, along with previous wrestling experience against some of the other top wrestlers in her bracket, Warden senior Jada Hernandez’s confidence heading into the Mat Classic was through the roof.

“I felt that going into the tournament I was going to do very well — whether it was the championship or maybe even going to third and fourth,” Hernandez said. “I knew it was going to be a tough tournament, but I knew I was going to wrestle my best, regardless. I had a very confident mindset.”

The senior capped off her high school with a state championship at the 2A/1A/B Girls Mat Classic, winning the 120-pound bracket in a 4-2 decision over Orting’s Brooklyn Jones. 

“It was like a dream come true, it’s something I had been working for my whole life,” Hernandez said. “Growing up through the program, it was always a big dream of mine — especially with both of my parents as the women’s coaches for Warden.”

Her mother is Warden girls wrestling head coach Valerie Hernandez, and her father is assistant coach Mario Hernandez. Jada Hernandez placed sixth at the Girls 115-pound tournament at the Mat Classic in 2022 and fourth in the 2A/1A/B Girls 115-pound bracket in 2023.

“I grew up being the manager who was always following the team around; I was mopping mats, washing everyone’s towels,” Jada Hernandez said. “To finally come up as a champion, when I got to watch so many of the women come through the program and be at the (Tacoma Dome) and wrestle at the Dome, and I finally got to be there myself and put my name up on the board right up with theirs, was a big deal for me.”

Hernandez opened up the tournament with a first-round bye, then defeated Franklin Pierce’s Aleeciya Meredith with a pin in the second period of the quarterfinals. Despite some nerves heading into her semifinal bout, the senior advanced to the state finals after pinning Forks’ Miley Blanton in the second period.

“I had to mentally prepare myself the night before my semifinal match because I was a lot more nervous for my semifinal match than I was going into the finals,” Hernandez said. “I knew it was going to be a lot more difficult for me to get there than being there.”

In the finals against Jones, Jada Hernandez scored four points in the first period with a takedown and a near fall, holding on to her lead for a 4-2 decision to win a state championship.

The win was also Hernandez’s 150th career win; she finished her high school career with a 150-22 record, including 47 wins and three losses in her senior campaign. 

“I got a couple accomplishments all in one bout,” Jada Hernandez said. “It was an amazing feeling to close that chapter of my life with a victory.”

Hernandez was one of four state-qualifying girls wrestlers from Warden at the Mat Classic, all of which reached the podium; senior Alona Castro (100, fifth) and senior Maira Zaragoza (125, fifth), with Hernandez (120, first) and senior Brianalee Martinez (115, second) both reaching the finals in their respective weight classes.

“They knew what it takes, they watched these girls,” Valerie Hernandez said. “... It was exciting to have them both come through the system and to be in the finals was ecstatic.”

After each wrestler’s final match, their teammates surrounded them with cheer.

“It was emotional for all of us because every time someone would win we’d come off the mat and we’d start crying — ‘Hey that was your last match!’ — and everyone would start bawling,” Hernandez said. “It was a very loving feeling between all of us. It was a deep connection that we had all had, because we know they had put in the work throughout the season and we all worked hard for a very long time, even beyond this season.”

Ian Bivona may be reached via email at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Warden senior Jada Hernandez, top left, wrestles against Orting’s Brooklyn Jones in the 2A/1A/B 120-pound finals.
  

    Warden senior Jada Hernandez, top, defeated Forks’s Miley Blanton to reach the state finals match.